Mexico says only 22 VAQUITA porpoises remain

[rwsanders]

Source: The Washington Post

MEXICO CITY — Experts said Wednesday that only 22 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California, where a grim, increasingly violent battle is playing out between emboldened fishermen and the last line of defense for the smallest and most endangered porpoise in the world.
Jorge Urban, a biology professor at the Baja California Sur University, said the 22 vaquitas were heard over a network of acoustic monitors. That was in fact higher than many had expected; some had estimated as little as 15 would remain in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place in the world where the vaquita marina is found.

It may be a sign the vaquita is holding on, and what is keeping it alive is a thin line of defenders: Every night 22 volunteer crew members from ships operated by the environmentalist group Sea Shepherd go out to search the upper Gulf for hidden gill nets that catch prized — but protected — totoaba fish and drown vaquitas.

It is increasingly dangerous work. Over the last month, the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat has suffered two attacks in which dozens of fast fishing boats pounded the ship with rocks and firebombs.
“If we stop operations, the vaquita will go extinct,” said Sea Shepherd first mate Jack Hutton. “It’s just out here removing nets, if we stop removing them then there’s no hope for the vaquita.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexico-says-only-22-vaquita-porpoises-remain/2019/03/06/8431e67e-4041-11e9-85ad-779ef05fd9d8_story.html

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I'm BEGGING YOU to not ignore this article.

The vaquita are beautiful, mysterious, shy. They are unique in the world. There are only a few left. Cuter than puppies, more squee than kittens. More mystery than a Murder She Wrote episode. She is the VAQUITA!!!

https://www.deviantart.com/memuco/art/The-last-conversation-318159485

PLEASE consider supporting Sea Shepherd. This is a last ditch effort. Bottom of the ninth with 2 outs and 2 strikes. 15th round and Rocky is getting pounded. Final 10 seconds of the 4th quarter and the other team leads by 5 with the ball on our 1 yard line.

Extinction is FOREVER.

This is NOT a historic fishery. The fishermen moved into the area ONLY to exploit the Totoaba for the Chinese. Globalization fans can claim it was for the good all they want, but damn Nixon to the darkest reaches of hell. Now the Chinese have the money to destroy some of the worlds most beloved species and do it by exploiting their people in the modern version of slavery. Damn and triple damn.

Also please support the Whistleblower Act. This program has ALREADY been FUNDED, but never implemented.
https://www.whistleblowers.org/campaigns/empower-global-wildlife-whistleblowers/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Wouldn't it be wonderful if more volunteers started showing up now?

Love the thought of many people coming forward in their own vessels, after contacting the Sea Shepherd people for advice on where to go, how to go, what to do, and start filling in the gaping holes that have allowed these monsters unrestricted access to the very last dozen and maybe several more, of the tiny porpoises on the planet.

Whatever can be done must be done now.

So very sad these illegal fishing people can be this hideously selfish and stupid.

Thank you, rwsanders. Hope help will come.

[rwsanders]

2. I just finished 20 years in the USCG, I have a contact who was in Living Marine Resources Division

at USCG headquarters and he told me that he suggested that the USCG should send patrols to help 10 years ago!!!!!!
I don't think it is too late, but that would be too high profile an action to slip under trump's nose and I know he doesn't care about any animal species and he would hate helping Mexico.
I don't understand why the UN isn't jumping in to help patrol. Or some neutral nation that Mexico trusts. I'm also shocked that may other activist groups with vessels aren't there.

I also don't understand why Mexico's fisheries division can't comprehend that current research says that setting an area aside as a marine reserve increases available fish. They could close off the upper Sea of Cortez, and in a few years there would be BOUNDLESS fish OUTSIDE of the reserve.

I've grown desperate enough in life I'm buying lottery tickets. Maybe if I pull off a win I'll be there. I'm also anxiously awaiting National Geographics general release of Sea of Shadows. I'm hoping that will be a major shift in the battle.

[Bayard]

3. So heartbreaking

I'm sure the fisherman just think the defenders are trying to keep them from making a living. Can they be educated and pointed somewhere else, or do they just refuse to listen? Can the area be make unprofitable?

[rwsanders]

7. It is the allure of a quick buck that brought fishermen to the area originally.

They came for the swim bladders of the totoaba for the Chinese, as they had already severely depleted a similar fish in their waters.
Their is alternative fishing gear for shrimp that would prevent vaquita deaths, but the Mexican government has not approved it for use, so safe gear is illegal, fishing is illegal, so they are caught in a bind. But again, shutting the entire area to fishing would allow the entire ecosystem to recover and there would be many more fish just from the abundance.
Marine Reserves improve fisheries!!!!!

[Duppers]

4. Thank you for posting this.

Decades-long Sea Shepherd supporter here. All donations count.

[rwsanders]

8. Thanks to you.

I just started monthly contributions and shut down all my other environmental contributions. It still seems pitifully small, but hopefully it helps.
I wish I had helped them more in the past, but I'm not sure what goes into a security clearance investigation, so I held back.

[Duppers]

9. Question

"What goes into a security clearance."
Sorry, not understanding.

[rwsanders]

14. I was in the USCG reserve for the past 20 years

The USCG is not fond of SSCS. Not knowing if being a contributor would affect my clearance, I shied away from it.
It frustrates me the way they treat SSCS and Greenpeace, because SSCS is doing what the USCG should be doing. And the USCG treats Greenpeace as criminals when they have to board vessels that are reported to be carrying timber harvested in violation of international laws and treaties. The USCG should impound the vessel until US Customs can investigate. But the corporations are running things, so Greenpeace and SSCS are criminalized.

[Duppers]

20. OMGoodness!! That's a shame!

Last edited Fri Mar 8, 2019, 02:06 AM - Edit history (1)

I now understand but did not know that Greenpeace was also blacklisted. Wow! I supported GP too until I switched my support to SSCS who took a more aggressive approach saving whales.

Here's a contrasting OT story, as evidence to how agencies differ on security clearances:

My hubby worked 42yrs for NASA where, for most of the time, he had a secret security clearance. They ck'd everything which included illegally opening our mail (back during the cold war) - no care was taken to even hide it.

There was one incident during my hub's grad school days when a Russian gave a paper at a conference he attended. My hubby's major prof asked that he drive this Russia back to the university, a day's drive, and then take him for a 2-day tour. So, he did. Hub's spoke Russian, btw. In passing, I happened to mention our unusual guest to our newspaper-connected neighbor who then sent a reporter to the university. The reporter filed a story, including pics in our local paper. Two days later, when I happened to be home, one of those big black cars pulled up outside and 2 "suits" got out. Yep, it was a special interview. So, the gov't began a file on my dh prior to his NASA employment.
Happily, this didn't affect his being hired by NASA a yr later.

However, I'm sure the USCG HQ is much more full of hardcore wingers, than is NASA HQ, who lean only a bit to the right. (NASA physicists, on the other hand, tend to be democrats.)

It's sad that you had to be so carefully with authoritarian agencies.

[rwsanders]

21. Well I was never sure if it would affect things, but after your story

I'm glad I held back.
I'm now working as a physical therapist and I had 2 interesting patients. One told me he had been involved in demonstrations since he was a kid, as his father took him. He said he got curious and FOIA'd his FBI file and he was surprised to find it was about 300 pages and he could tell that there had been infiltrators in some of the groups, and that they had been interviewing acquaintances and employers, etc.
Another is related to someone living in exile due to activist activities (if I told you the group and the country it would probably give things away and I'd violate HIPAA) he went to the relatives mother's house and was approached by 2 "suits" as you say. So they had been hanging at her house for years watching it and we are paying for that.

[Judi Lynn]

23. Disturbing, and horrible. So many people have no idea. Thank you. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

22. Very sobering information. Thanks for your comments. n/t

[Mendocino]

5. Estuarine habitat is also part of the problem.

Since the Colorado River has become virtually non-flowing in Mexico, the salinity levels impacts the vaquita greatly.

[rwsanders]

6. Recent studies have disproven this. The dead vaquitas that have been found were not emaciated

and would have otherwise been healthy except for being caught in the nets.

[Mendocino]

11. Lack of estuary

inhibits both lack of range, diversity and availability of prey species. Vaquitas now live in a reduced habitat that once supported a diverse ecosystem. The salinity turns what were valuable estuaries into less productive waters.

[rwsanders]

13. I agree there have been impacts.

But those were there long before the population of the vaquita plummeted. Recently more water is being released from the Colorado River and the population is still going down.
The general consensus of scientists is that this is not a factor in the decline of the vaquita and statements to the contrary are a diversion from the real problem. Think Mexico's version of Fox "news".
Most of the nutrients in the region is from upwelling due to wind and tide which is not affected by the flow of the river.

[Marengo]

10. What responsibility does Nixon bear in all this?

[rwsanders]

12. He is usually credited with opening up China to "trade".

As some pundits have said, we didn't end slavery, we outsourced it.
But the trade has put enough money in the pockets of the wealthy and growing middle class there that they've been able to afford to buy rhino horns, tiger bones, pangolin scales, totoaba swim bladders, etc.
Again, not that the U.S. does not bear as much blame as we are the second biggest market in the world for trade in illegal wildlife products.
Only about 1% of the containers that come into the country are ever inspected, and funds were provided to implement a whistleblower program, but was never established by USFWS, Customs, NOAA and other agencies that were provided funds.

[raccoon]

15. Can a species survive when it gets to that point? nt

[rwsanders]

16. Unknown in this case

The California Condor was down to 11, and the red wolf was down to around 30 (still not recovered), but they were bred in captivity and protected from the conditions driving them to extinction.
It was tried with the vaquita, but the female that was captured died from stress. Only a few harbor porpoises have ever been kept in captivity and they could not breed in captivity.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

17. K&Fuckin' R

[shanti]

18. This is heartbreaking

[rwsanders]

19. I've been distraught since I found out,

Last edited Fri Mar 8, 2019, 02:02 AM - Edit history (1)

I had no idea things were so bad and I try hard to stay up on these issues.
The vaquita was known primarily to the fishermen who moved into the area in the 1940s following the totoaba. They may have been known to the few Indians in the area, but no one has any records from them.
The vaquita was only described in the scientific literature in the 1950's.
The rest of the world had information only in the 1970s.
By the 1990's the population was already in sharp decline and Jean-Michel Cousteau negotiated a protection agreement in the 1990s.
Demand for the totoaba swim bladder has exploded and here we are.

[Duppers]

24. China again! 😖

They don't give a rat's about saving anything. No empathy or compassion for anything but their families.

Sorry, I can't keep biting my tongue, even though we have a dear friend in Shanghai.

[rwsanders]

25. And Jefferson Starship still owes the world an apology for the song Ride the Tiger

Even positive stereotypes don't help do they?

The situation with China and Republicans remind me of the old joke about the farmer who hired an expert to train his mule.
The expert looked over the mule, nodded, reached into his bag and pulled out a ball bat.
He then smacks the mule in the head as hard as he can.
The shocked farmer yells "why did you do that?"
The mule trainer calmly says, "the first thing I had to do was get his attention".

I wonder if even that would get through.

[Duppers]

26. It's most difficult to break with tradition.

Anywhere in the world.

When our friend Qian visited us several yrs ago, he was very frightened of our big dog but was also amazed at how well she took commands. When we were in Shanghai in 2010, we saw that a few Chinese were beginning to adopt dogs as pets. They seemed very flattered when we stopped to pet their dogs. However, I don't remember seeing a single dog on the streets in Beijing. hmmm.

We were just happy to see some empathy on display with dog ownership.